Peter’s Take

Peter’s Take is a weekly opinion column. The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ARLnow.com.

In early January, I wrote a column about bipartisan legislation (the Virginia Dream Act) introduced by Arlington Del. Alfonso Lopez (D) and Fairfax De. Tom Rust (R). If enacted, their bill would have granted certain Virginia students whose parents are undocumented the right to attend Virginia colleges at in-state tuition rates. Their proposed legislation failed to pass.

Last week brought a flurry of partisan charges and counter charges about a legal advisory opinion issued by Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring. Herring concluded that even under current Virginia law, some Virginia students who are lawfully present in the United States under the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program qualify for in-state college tuition rates.

Herring’s legal opinion generated a storm of controversy over such issues as whether Herring:

• as Virginia’s Attorney General, has the authority to do this,
• should have waited for Virginia to pass a new law on this subject,
• is the left’s answer to Ken Cuccinelli, or
• did this in an effort to help him win the Democratic nomination for governor in 2017.

The students themselves have been lost in these fusillades of partisan sniping. Here are some of them:

Rodrigo Balderrama

Rodrigo is a senior at Wakefield High School in Arlington. He was born in Argentina, and came to the United States at the age of 6 with his mother and grandmother. They lacked proper documentation. Rodrigo has been admitted to the University of Virginia, but cannot afford in-state tuition.

Mauricio Segovia Pacheco

Mauricio was brought to Virginia when he was 4 years old. His parents, a cook and a waitress, are undocumented immigrants from Ecuador. Mauricio graduated with a 4.6 GPA from Lake Braddock H.S. in Fairfax, and was admitted to UVA. He can’t afford to attend UVA if he has to pay the out-of-state tuition rate.

Jung Bin Cho

Jung Bin Cho emigrated with his parents from South Korea in 2001 on visas that turned out to be invalid. His family never obtained proper immigration papers. After graduating from high school in Springfield, where he played football and dreamed of a high-tech career, he was admitted to Virginia Tech. However, he is ineligible for in-state tuition and cannot afford out-of-state tuition rates.

Rodrigo Balderrama, Mauricio Segovia Pacheco, and Jung Bin Cho are entirely innocent bystanders who are watching while too many partisan adults fight over whether they are entitled to attend Virginia colleges on the same financial terms as other in-state Virginia students.

It’s time to show them some compassion, set aside our partisan differences, and find a solution to this inequity.

Peter Rousselot is a former member of the Central Committee of the Democratic Party of Virginia and former chair of the Arlington County Democratic Committee.

Peter’s Take is a weekly opinion column. The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ARLnow.com.

Last week, a joint press release from Arlington County and Arlington Public Schools brought welcome news: APS has decided to retain its Wilson elementary school property in Rosslyn for possible redevelopment as a new secondary school.

The decision regarding the Wilson School site holds promise because it is smart and was announced collaboratively. Pitfalls lie ahead because this is only one of many decisions still to be made relating to school overcrowding.

BACKGROUND

Since 2006, APS enrollment has grown by more than 4,850 students, or 26 percent, reaching a current level of 23,717 students. By 2023, APS enrollment is projected to exceed 30,000 students, a 63 percent increase since 2006.

APS is in the midst of developing various alternative options for the capital spending that will be required to address this enormous enrollment growth. While final capital spending estimates remain to be published, it is a safe bet that this will involve spending hundreds of millions of dollars raised by selling a series of bonds over the next ten years.

WHAT’S NEXT

Capital spending to address school overcrowding must be a top priority for both Arlington County and APS. But, it cannot be a top priority unless the County Board’s current spending priorities are changed to focus on core services.

The rosy environment of 2000-2006, in which money was pouring in over Arlington’s transom, and County Board members hatched unwise capital projects like the Aquatics Center and the Columbia Pike streetcar, is barely visible in Arlington’s rear view mirror.

We face a starkly different environment in which APS enrollment is projected to increase 63 percent from 2006 levels, while commercial office vacancy rates hover near 20 percent. We cannot address this new environment simply by paying lip service to the proposition that spending on schools is “a priority.” In order to provide the money to make schools a priority in a fiscally responsible way, we must acknowledge that some capital projects need to be dropped or deferred.

If everything is a priority, nothing is a priority.

THE VIHSTADT EFFECT

In the comments section to ARLnow.com’s story on the Wilson School decision, there was a debate about the extent to which John Vihstadt’s election might have influenced that decision. There is a more important point here.  Vihstadt has a remarkably deep civic résumé documenting his involvement in both County and schools issues over a 30-year period. Vihstadt campaigned on a platform of breaking down the silos between the County and the schools, and concentrating our spending on core services like schools.

Vihstadt is in a unique position to bring a fresh perspective to the many school overcrowding challenges that lie ahead. He can help the County and APS to address those issues collaboratively to achieve the best outcomes.

Peter Rousselot is a former member of the Central Committee of the Democratic Party of Virginia and former chair of the Arlington County Democratic Committee.

Peter’s Take is a weekly opinion column. The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ARLnow.com.

Last week, the County Board Chair scrambled to fix a mistake he made in proposing a last-minute budget adjustment. This episode demonstrated carelessness in making critical decisions that have substantial human and financial consequences. It also highlighted the need for long-term reforms in county staff compensation policy.

In his original explanation for how the county was going to pay for a 1 percent property tax rate cut, the Board Chair — without any consultation with stakeholders or the public — proposed paying for this rate cut by eliminating step increases for county employees. He suggested replacing that system with a 1 percent annual cost of living increase and a one-time $500 bonus. After entirely predictable protests by affected employees, the Chair backed down.

Every issue and trade-off involved in this quickly-retracted proposal could have been aired months ago at the outset of the budget review process. Why wasn’t this proposal raised then?

“Live Healthy,” who says he is not a county employee but is an Arlington property owner, posted thoughtful comments to one of ARLnow.com’s stories about this episode. He writes:

I am consistently shocked at what a low value this county places on its most important asset: The employees. Employees are not a cheap set of tools that you use until they wear out and break, then replace them.

This County Board should really be ashamed of themselves for the way they treat their most valuable asset. Annual spending priorities constantly seem to focus on pet projects. Meanwhile the core services: police, fire, medical; water, sewer, streets; schools; economic development; tax collection; courthouse civil services; and others often take a back seat.

A 1% increase does not even keep pace with inflation over the last year. Looking historically, it seems that Arlington has not kept pace (even close) with inflation for many years. That is with no mention of the frozen merit increases that the employees have endure[d]. In other words, with each year that passes, our county employees’ paychecks are worth less than the year before.

It’s time for the Arlington County Board to stop pandering to interest groups and stop funding pet projects at the expense of those who make them possible. Start a multi-year process to catch up with inflation, restore merit increases, and pay our employees a salary commensurate with their hard work and dedication. 

I agree with “Live Healthy.” The County Board’s flawed approach to staff salary compensation is yet another illustration of why the Board’s budget priorities are wrong for Arlington.

In the case of staff salaries, as in so many other areas, the Board needs to focus on Arlington’s core services. 

Peter Rousselot is a former member of the Central Committee of the Democratic Party of Virginia and former chair of the Arlington County Democratic Committee.

Peter’s Take is a weekly opinion column. The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ARLnow.com.

One of the five most revealing stories of 2013 was the ethics scandal that engulfed the administration of former Gov. Bob McDonnell and his wannabe successor Ken Cuccinelli. In the wake of that scandal, there were high hopes that Virginia would pass meaningful ethics reform in 2014. Sadly, Virginia flunked this opportunity.

Virginia legislators from both parties are responsible for the toothless “ethics reform” legislation that did pass in 2014. Their legislation “tightens conflict of interest rules on themselves just enough to say they did something to clean up Virginia’s soiled reputation.”

What did they do? Why did it do nothing to clean up Virginia’s soiled reputation?

The ethics legislation that passed this year imposes a $250 cap on gifts to Virginia legislators. Sounds good, right? Wrong. The $250 cap applies only to gifts made by registered lobbyists. It does not apply to gifts made directly by any individual or business that is not a registered lobbyist. Thus, the kinds of gifts made to McDonnell and Cuccinelli by disgraced businessman Jonnie Williams (e.g., shopping sprees to New York, Rolex watches, reimbursement for weddings of legislators’ children) are all permitted under the new ethics legislation just as they were before.

In fact, an early analysis of this legislation by ProgressVA showed that if it had been in effect in 2012, it would have prohibited NONE of the 756 gifts made to Virginia’s legislators in that year.

This legislation also “substitutes window-dressing for muscular enforcement by establishing an ‘advisory’ state ethics panel — with no staff or budget — instead of a commission with the resources and authority to investigate alleged violations.”

What role did Gov. Terry McAuliffe play regarding ethics reform this session? Where he had the unilateral power to do it, he put in place a strong ethics reform package for himself, his staff, and state agencies. This executive branch reform package establishes a $100 gift cap without the ridiculous loopholes in the bill passed by the legislature.

Some have criticized Gov. McAuliffe for failing to exercise his power to propose substantive amendments to the ethics bill passed by the legislature. That criticism is unfair. Given the huge bi-partisan support for this legislation, there was no reasonable prospect that the governor could have obtained any significant substantive changes in it.

Conclusion

The legislature thoroughly humiliated itself by what it did. The governor could serve no constructive purpose by heaping further humiliation on top of that.

For this “reform,” the Virginia legislature deserves a bi-partisan grade of “F.”

Give Terry McAuliffe a “B+.”

Peter Rousselot is a former member of the Central Committee of the Democratic Party of Virginia and former chair of the Arlington County Democratic Committee.

Peter’s Take is a weekly opinion column. The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ARLnow.com.

A Washington Post story last week revealed that Arlington County’s property tax bills (as distinguished from Arlington County’s property tax rate) are at the very top of all localities in Northern Virginia.

A graphic accompanying the Post story compares average property tax bills from the respective NOVA jurisdictions. Arlington has surged to No. 1.

Arlington County Board members continually try to obscure this fact by boasting that Arlington’s property tax rate is in the middle of the NOVA pack or lower. Jay Fisette said this again in his 2014 New Year’s Day speech. The Post graphic confirms it.

However, the vast majority of Arlington’s property owners care about their bottom line — their property tax bills — not the property tax rate in isolation. If the property assessment system is working fairly, the County Board cannot directly control assessments. But, the Board can control our property tax bills by lowering the property tax rate. The Board did just that in the early part of the last decade.

This Board has made it very hard for itself to lower the property tax rate because of the Board’s own past misspending — and commitments for future misspending — on vanity projects like:

• a $310+ million unnecessary Columbia Pike streetcar,
• an $80+ million gold-plated Aquatics Center at Long Bridge Park,
• a $1 million bus stop, and
• a $1.7 million extravagant Clarendon dog park.

At the same time this Board is wasting our money on projects like these, it is not spending a large enough share of the tax money we provide for:

• reducing overcrowding in our public schools
• replacing our ancient water mains
• improving the “not good enough” condition of our roads

If the County Board were to lower the property tax rate for FY 2015, while at the same time pressing forward with its vanity projects, then funding for core services would suffer even more than such funding is suffering now. Alas, there is no sign that a majority of current County Board members intend to pull back from their commitments to their vanity projects.

Although we are not coming close to getting the value we deserve for our No. 1 ranking, I would not like to see this Board cut the property tax rate unless it simultaneously drops all of its vanity projects.

It’s time to alter the insular status quo on the current Board by electing new members whom we can confidently conclude will:

• vote to end wasteful spending on all vanity projects, and
• concentrate spending on core services.

Then we could get a break on our surging property tax bills.

Peter’s Take is a weekly opinion column. The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ARLnow.com.

I occasionally like to highlight nonprofits who are offering valuable services and programs in Arlington. Today, I’m focusing on Empowered Women International (EWI).

EWI creates jobs and economic empowerment through entrepreneurship training, mentoring and support services for immigrant, refugee, and low-income women throughout the D.C. metro area, including in Arlington. EWI core services include:

• Yearlong entrepreneurship training incubator,
• Mentoring and support services for micro-enterprises,
• Access to professional networks, investment capital and public marketplaces.

Immigrant and refugee women represent a source of potential economic enrichment and multicultural understanding for their communities; however too often they are marginalized and their capabilities under-utilized. A survey of EWI’s women beneficiaries showed that 80 percent were working professionals in their home countries, but had an annual income of less than $5,000 when they first came to EWI.

In the past five years, EWI has launched 180 micro-enterprises — 70 percent of which are still in existence. Graduates’ increased income supports economic growth in our region through tax revenue, additional job creation and purchasing of supplies and services from other local businesses.

Graduates become volunteers and leaders within their communities through EWI’s required “each one, teach one” community enrichment program. EWI programs transform women from a population in need of support to an income-generating population giving support and leading change in their communities.

On March 18, EWI will be providing an opportunity for women to earn a scholarship into their business entrepreneurship program. Participants will have three minutes to verbally present a concise, clear and powerful description of their business idea. A panel of business experts then will provide feedback and select those who will participate in the program.

To pitch your business idea, you must meet the following criteria:

• Be an immigrant, refugee or low-income American-born woman,
• Have a business in idea stage, hobby business, or 24-36 months into the business,
• Be able to participate in online and offline training and mentoring program,
• Have a good command of both written and spoken English,
• Have basic computer skills for writing and online research.

“Being a part of EWI makes you feel part of a larger whole,” Sushmita Mazumdar, an Arlington resident and owner of Studio Pause, says, and “it gives you credibility as an entrepreneur because so many people, businesses and professionals are part of EWI’s network.”

With support from EWI, Mazumdar received a micro-loan of $5,000 to open Studio Pause, a community art and cultural studio that brings together adult and children alike to create art, write and tell their stories.

If you are looking for other ways to get involved in EWI’s activities, those are summarized here.

EWI is performing a valuable community service here in Arlington and throughout the D.C. metro region.

Peter Rousselot is a former member of the Central Committee of the Democratic Party of Virginia and former chair of the Arlington County Democratic Committee.